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Friday, August 28, 2015

Four years old and incredibly excited to start school.Well, in his words, he wanted to “go to
university” but we explained to him how he had to take first steps first.It feels like we are always teaching him new
things and he’s just a little sponge anyway, so preschooling at home seemed like a
great idea to me, too!So we got tiny
backpacks (sister couldn’t be left out), some basic supplies, and a few simple
work books.We added in what we already
had at home (crayons, glue, ruler, scissors, “science” books) and his
anticipation was tangible!

We weren’t going to start until the local schools did, but I
realized his excitement was not going to allow his supplies to wait at this
point, so we set a start date for the following Monday.At last the day arrived and he powered though
all his lessons and put his stickers on his chart like a champ!

As I woke him up for our next day of school I told him with
enthusiasm, “and we get to do school again today!”To which he responded, “MOM, do we HAVE
to!?”Really!?That was all I got!?ONE day of excitement about school!Boy, I was going to have to get creative, and
quick!=)Thankfully, as soon as we started, he was
really into it again.But it definitely
got me thinking about how I was going to keep this boy engaged.

So with that, I bring you our second week of preschool:

1.Stick Letters:Thankfully he can form his name with mostly straight lines.Our only trouble was his sister trying to
rearrange the letters to suit her own creativity!I’d like to try this again with other new words
as he learns them.

2.Insect Anatomy: As we read about the basics of
insects this week, we decided to grab a bag and collect whatever little pieces
we thought we might be able to glue down.We counted antennae, wings and legs of our newly made insects and found symmetry
in that the insect would have the same number of parts (legs/wings/antennae) on
one side as it did on the other. Then we were able to examine a couple live
ants in our driveway!

3.Chalk Tracing:I know not everyone has a place to scrawl on with chalk (this is the
first time we ever have!) but could be done just as easily with crayons/markers
on paper.This is all over Pintrest, but
the idea is that you write a simple word (I did mine in a pale yellow so he
could really see his red or blue chalk over it.Then we would talk about the sounds each of the letters made and blend
them together until he read each word!This last step took a little determination, but he was so excited when
he did finally READ a word!

4.Rendering Lard: I’ll be writing a post about
this later, but this was a fascinating experiment!For those of you who do not know, lard is pig
fat that is rendered through a slow heating process.It’s used like shortening in baking and is
making a comeback for it’s natural, healthful properties (Lauren goes into that in
a little more detail on her page).Anyway, this led to some interesting conversations about what lard was,
and then what fat was, why our body needs it, but not too much, and what was
left over after the lard was removed (small portions of muscle, blood vessel,
and tendon) and then their role in the body.

5.Baking:I’m
not going to lie, here: baking with these wee ones can be super stressful
sometimes.I’ve come to realize that
many recipes are more forgiving than they let on, because there is no way we
ended up with the right proportions of the ingredients!But, we were able to use some of our fresh
lard to make snickerdoodles (having cookies as an end product is always great
inspiration to be a good helper!)Although
they don’t understand the fractions or even the measurements yet, we talked
about them and he was really pointing out which measuring cups were bigger than
others and asking about why we needed one teaspoon of salt instead of one
cup!

We still did our work books, science
reading, and bible verses, but doing the extras and taking it outside sure kept
him focused longer. And with much more enthusiasm! I hope these ideas have sparked some ideas of your own!What have you done
to keep your little ones engaged? I would love to hear how
you find ways to incorporate real life into your school!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Sitting out at our lemonade stand was such a joy!Not only did I get to hang out, do preschool,
read and sing with my little ones during the down time, we also got to meet
many of our neighbors and just hear the stories of passer-bys.One couple were even missionaries from Africa
here on leave!As they drank their
lemonade, they told us about how the believers were faring in their area and
the woman commented, “There, now you have refreshed us with lemonade, and we
have refreshed you with news of your brothers and sisters in Africa!”And it was true!

It was perfect! This was the page we were doing in his preschool book!

We had several people just want to take pictures of our
stand (feel free to read up on the instructions for the lashed branch stand) and nearly everyone comment on how
pleasantly surprised they were that the lemonade had such wonderful flavor.I actually had to agree.That sounds totally conceited, but let me
explain.I really don’t like
lemonade.I know it's horrible, but
I’ve just never really had much of a taste for the drink.So for me to admit I like it is saying
something.I had several people request the
recipe on the spot and it was easy to give because the recipe was so simple.The kids and I tried
to restrain ourselves, but we still ended up drinking about a quarter of the
lemonade we made.

The thing is, I didn’t feel bad at all because it was SO
easy to make!No squeezing lemons (or
having them squirt in unfortunate directions) and only three ingredients IF you're counting the water.I made another huge batch the next day for
our church painting party and another one after that just for us.I adjusted this lemonade recipe a bit to make a simple
lemonade for us to sell and then I made a couple flavoring syrups to allow
visitors some options.But first, let me
share with you how I made the lemonade:

You’ll need:

·3 lemons

·¾ cup sugar (or 1 cup honey)*

·6 cups water

·Blender

·Strainer

·Pitcher

Set 1 ½ cups of water to boiling while you quarter the
lemons and toss them into the blender.When the water is hot, stir it into the sugar to dissolve, then pour it
into the blender as well. Add remaining
water (if it doesn’t all fit in, you can add the rest to the pitcher.)Start out on lowest setting and allow blender
to agitate the juice from the lemon quarters for a minute or so. I waited until the water was just becoming opaque. You don't want to grate the rinds. Then pour
through strainer (to catch all the rinds and seeds) into the pitcher.Cool
(or ice) and done! *I want to note, this will yield a fairly sweet lemonade, so if you prefer it to be more on the tart side, you may want to adjust this amount.

Just kitty-corner from our house is a farm stand called Me
and Moore that sells the most amazing peaches right now!They’re seriously like candy!The kids, Clancey dog and I walked over and
got a bagful.They found some pretty
little wildflowers on the way and each picked one for the lady who always works
at the counter.She’s such a sweetheart
and always has a nice conversation with the kids when we’re there! Once we got home, I followed this recipe for the
syrups:I didn’t know at the time that the
lemonade would be able to stand on its own!But it’s still fun to add a little flavor, even if just for variety’s
sake, from time to time.In fact, nearly
everyone who came by requested flavoring added in.A spoonful or two was more than enough for the
flavor to come through.

Ingredients:

·3 cups fruit

·
1/2 cup sugar

·1 cup water

Bring the water to boil in a saucepan.Dissolve sugar into boiling water, turn down
heat to medium, then stir in fruit.Allow to simmer for 5 minutes or until it has thickened, stirring intermittently. Pour into jar and refrigerate until use.

I did a batch of strawberry also and they both turned out so
tasty!And they looked so cheery sitting
on the stand together!I understand life
is sometimes too crazy even for this, but I picked up another flavoring cheat I
wanted to pass on if you need to save some time: jam or preserves!I had a little bit of my mom’s blackberry jam
and just added a splash of water to a spoonful to thin it out a bit.Stirred into the lemonade it turned out
great!If you're looking for another syrup recipe, Sweet C Designs makes a very similar version that looks super yummy, too!

Anyway, I’m so glad we decided to tackle this adventure! Have
you ever had a lemonade stand?This
endeavor really got me reminiscing.I
grew up near the end of a long dead-end road, so a full-blown lemonade stand
wasn’t really an option.But a few
friends and I created the “Berry Berry Bunch Club” when we were barely in grade
school.We diligently picked all sorts
of wild berries and made concoctions by smashing them or mixing them into juice
we had swiped from the kitchen.We put
the drinks into tiny cups and sold them for a nickel to anyone who would give
us the time of day!Wow, fun times,
though…

Alright, then! Let's reel it back in from the reminiscing rabbit trail! I hope you're having a great week and I'll leave you with this gem:

"TASTE and SEE that the LORD is good! How blessed is the one who takes shelter in Him!" Psalms 34:8

Friday, August 21, 2015

…are still incredibly hot!It was pushing 100 degrees as we sat at our lemonade stand.Which, I suppose, is good weather to have a
lemonade stand in… either way, it was a much more preferable event than my
trial and errors of making the stand itself!So I wanted to share my experience with you with the hope that you might
have an easier go of it.

It all started when I read to our little guy about a
lemonade stand in one of his books. We talked about it a bit and he (okay, we) got really excited about the
idea!We talked about how it would work
and flavorings we would make, and when he asked, I told him I would see if we
could make it work.

First, I asked our landlord if it was even okay, then set to
planning.I’m not going to lie; my first
plan failed miserably.It wouldn’t even stand
up.So I’d like to tell you what not to
do and then what worked for us.

So, if you read my post about our fort (here)
you’ll recall we have a ton of fresh, strong branches from a recent tree
trimming and I thought they might make a cute, rustic sort of lemonade stand,
too.Josh insisted that lashing the
round logs was the best way to secure them, but he showed me the right way to
do that this time.I’ll pass along that
bit of knowledge in a bit, but first I’ll explain my failed design:four upright posts, two braces on each side
and a couple angled supports.In the
end, I had to back track and take several pieces off to make it a sort of
A-frame. Another gem Josh taught through this experience is that triangles are sturdier than squares/rectangles. MUCH sturdier, though it still
sits at a bit of an angle on our uneven ground.But, it worked fine and I still like how it looks.

So here’s the bit about lashing that I found very helpful and hope to use again in the future: I started laying the
branches (each about 6 feet long with a 3 inch diameter) out the front on our
patio (propping them up on paint cans made for some extra elbow room) and lashing the cross beams to the uprights.So, we started with a clove hitch. The best way I can describe that is to wrap
your twine around one branch twice so they cross with a long tail.Where the twine crosses, slip the tail under
both sides and pull tight.Easy peasy.

For the long beams across the front, we did square lashings,
meaning I would go up and over the branch on top, down under the branch on
bottom, then over the top on again on the other side.Basically going around instead of cross.Hopefully the photo can explain what I can’t
with words.I followed this pattern
about five times over.

To add strength, I was advised to keep the twine as neat and
snug as possible.I’m afraid I didn’t
achieve either to the degree I would have liked, but each one was better than
its predecessor.When the five times
over-under-over-under pattern is complete, it can be tightened even more by
doing the opposite: over the bottom, under the top.About five times around again. This takes up
much less twine each round because you’re only circling around the first batch
to tighten them in together.Again, I’ll
have to refer you to the photo.

Once you’ve tightened the lashing, complete with another
clove hitch and there you have it!I did
a slightly different pattern for the shorter braces going front to back.The only difference is that after the
starting clove hitch, I did a cross over back and forth so that they will
support the board, still finishing with the tightening portion and ending in
another clove hitch. Then lash the tops together in the same way and you’re
done with the frame!

I did add some kitty-corner braces in the front upper
corners to give even more stability.We
laid a board across the top and decorated a little with table cloth, pendants,
and sign (instructions to come for this one!SO easy and fun!)

This was by far the hardest part of the adventure.Especially since we had to backtrack a bit
there, but now that I’ve made that mistake you can save yourself the headache
of it!In the end, the materials I used
were:

·6’ long branches x 5

·2’ long branches x 4 (2 for the front to back
beams that held the counter, 2 for the corner supports)

·12” board (ours was only an inch thick and 4’
long, but this could vary for you so long as it fits between your frame braces)

·Lots of twine!I used about half a skein.

·A little scrap fabric if you choose to decorate

Total cost: $12 –but this was only because we had to buy
that silly board and twine new.Do you
have something already laying around your house that would work?Maybe you could make it for even less!I was looking at lemonade stands online and
all I found were well over $100.Very
well constructed all and would probably last forever, but I didn’t feel like we
needed that.

And, what I think the best part about this project was, the
kiddos were able to help and learn along with me.They helped pick the straightest, strongest
branches, haul them to the patio, set up, and pick up all the stray strings and
branches.We had so many people comment
on how much they liked the uniqueness and style of our stand as they came to
visit and many random visitors took photos!Of course, it was probably just for these two cuties sitting behind the
counter! =)

I hope this helps you create your own stand at some point,
even if you’re on a budget (be it time or money) and can save you a headache or
two!Coming up on Tuesday: an amazingly
simple lemonade recipe that tastes amazingly good!I’ll even throw in a couple flavoring syrup
recipes, too!

Stay tuned!

In need of more inspiration for simple lemonade booths? Check out an adorable pallet one﻿ here, or this sweet one made of painted cardboard!

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

I know, but hear me out:We’ve been unpacking and our little laddie unearthed his adorable red
slippers created by the talented Rachel Zachary.They’re his favorite so he put them right on his feet and went to prance
around the house.Well, this was
terribly unfair in the eyes of his sister!So I took her to my yarn stash and she picked out two colors of
yarn.Oh!She was so excited she just squealed and ran
around the house with a skein of yarn under each arm!During her nap the next day, I whipped up one
slipper after looking at her brothers pair a bit and perusing some patterns
online (see these cuties!)When she woke up, she was
so thrilled that she wore just the one slipper the rest of the evening!The match was finished the following nap and
right now it’s pushing 100 degrees outside and my daughter has her slippers on! Silly
girl, but it’s nice when your work is so appreciated!I made them a little big so they’ll
(hopefully) fit through the winter.Actually, I think I'm still on my Alaskan internal clock to some extent. Even though it's crazy hot here, I'm seeing photos of my Fairbanks friends all bundled up in coats and hats already. This is the time of year we're used to preparing for a long, deep, and cold winter.Anyway, I was just telling my mom about this project and how, at this stage in our lives, I rarely complete a project that isn't super quick, can be dropped at any time for the random emergency, and terribly useful. This project definitely fits those guidelines and I love that it is still lovely and fun. In fact, as soon as I finished hers, I picked out some greens to make myself a pair! Awesome way to use up some yarn remnants, too!

I used two yarns at once (first time I’ve tried this technique) and I
really love how they join together and how thick and warm of a texture they
create.I haven’t written many patterns before so if
there’s any confusion, please shoot me a message!This pattern is for a size 6, but they could
easily be adjusted for larger feet, I would imagine.To make a larger size, I would repeat round 3
1-2x, then repeat row 12 until it is long enough.

Sweetie Slippers

Round one:
6 DC into magic ring.Tighten and join
to first.

Round 2: Ch 2.2 DC
in each sp. (12)Join with slst.

Round 3: Ch 2. (2 DC in next sp.1 DC in next sp) around. (19)Join with sl st.

Round 4-6: Ch 2.1 DC
in each sp around.(19)Join with sl to.

Row 7-12: Chain 2, turn.DC 13 across.

With right sides facing, join the back of the heel with slip
stiches.Fasten off.

Join to top of the heel seam with a sl st.Chain 2

Round 1: (DC in each sp) 9x. DC 2tog.DC in next 5 sp.DC 2tog.(DC in each sp) 9x.Join with sl
st.

Round 2-3: Ch 2.DC
in each sp around. (24)Join with sl st.

Fasten off.Weave
ends.

~Hindsight note: now that she's worn these a few days, I'm seeing that they're rather large around her tiny ankles. They stay on fine, but if I were to make them again, I would do a few more DC 2togs in the second to last round.

If you decide to give this pattern a try, I would love to see how it turns out for you and how you might choose to make them uniquely yours! Would you send me a photo? Happy creating!

Friday, August 14, 2015

We were explorers, braving the wilds, discovering new
creatures and landscapes.Danger awaited
behind every corner.

We were natives, hunting and gathering for our meals,
tending our lodge and our fire.

We were gypsy rovers, tinkering and creating beautiful items
from the things we brought out of the forest.

But always, our base of operations was our fort.

When we were growing up, every spare minute was outside and
a good portion of that time was building and maintaining forts out of whatever
we had.Then I got married and found
this was a good portion of my husband’s childhood as well.Of course he was a boy scout so he knew the
“right” way to make them!Most people I
talk to seem to have some good memories of forts in their childhood. I love that making a fort can mean so many different things, be it a sheet over some chair backs, a platform up a tree, a timber-built structure, or a plastic, store-bought cottage! We even called some low-hanging cedar boughs (where they sweep the ground clean underneath when the wind blows) forts from time to time. When we were packing to move down here, we made the young 'uns a fort out of packing boxes! Isn't it great how the desire to build a shelter can spark the creativity in us!?

And how can you not love them?A secret place, just the right size for you
that can ignite so many imaginary scenarios?I have been looking forward to sharing this joy with my children for some
time now and the opportunity arose this week when our landlord trimmed the
lower branches of the many trees on our property.These fresh sturdy branches were perfect for
fort constructing!

Starting out, I was way more excited about this project than
my children.But I decided to just keep
at it knowing they would enjoy the finished product (and I was just having so
much fun!)They did eventually join in
once they saw the fort begin to take shape.
Then yesterday when we came home from running errands, as soon as they jumped out of the truck they were begging to go play in their new fort! Their excitement is so encouraging! I adore what they come up with on their own when they are just outside with nothing but creation and imagination!

In case you should be so inclined (and I do hope you get the opportunity), I've outlined our process. Of course it will look different for you. Or even for me if I tried to do the same thing agin. Every fort seems to be unique. Unique materials, design, creators, occupants...

To start, we gathered branches and set the cross beam.

Then we angled branches to form the walls. This was a little easier said then done as our big moose of a dog, Clancey, thought all these branches ought to be his. He would grab these huge sticks in his mouth and try to run off with them. He even grabbed at the ends of ones I was carrying! No doubt these were preferable as they were no longer stationary!

After we had a bit of a frame we lashed them all together (don’t laugh, Josh.It works =)

The face of concentration

We added more branches to the walls and soon we were weaving smaller, more malleable branches in between the larger
ones.

Blackberry break!

Look at that shirt! This girl doesn't mess around in her creative play!

﻿

Time to set up camp!

Constructing their "fire pit"

Testing the door. Again.

Let the adventures begin!

They started off being "discoverers" who got their supplies together, set off from camp and (you guessed it) made discoveries! Many new bugs, fruits, and rocks were discovered this week! Not long after, they had morphed into rescuers and were seeking out people who might need their help. Love their hearts!

﻿

﻿

My only regret is not setting aside some of the cedar boughs
to thatch the walls with!They carted
them off before I even considered that step!Oh well, my mighty adventurers don’t seem to mind their extra
windows!Well, there it is!Using what was on hand to make their first
outdoor fort!Do you have a fort sitting
outside your house?How did you construct
it?I would love any other ideas for
thatching; I am drawing a blank!

If you're ever in need of fort inspiration, there's of course some awesome boards on Pintrest. I have several on one of my boards A Time to Go Outside, but I also really love what Jaden put together on this one! Wow! Some of those constructions are incredible! Kind of makes me want to just live in a fort for the rest of my life! Yeah, I never really grew out of that stage! Also, have you read Allison's blog about Fun Fort Friday on her page here.TONS of great fort ideas here!Happy exploring!

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

"Once
upon a time in the land way up north there lived a little family: a loving
daddy and mama, a courageous boy and a charming baby girl. Their adventure
begins when..."

Though
the adjectives change, this is how we often start the stories I make up for my
children. We are a family of four from Fox, Alaska, just relocated to
Eugene, Oregon, who love learning and adventures of all sorts: outdoor, indoor
and imaginary! I'm always striving for useful, practical projects and
using what we have in new creative ways. Though a terribly sentimental person, I
find that if I’m going to put the time and effort into anything, it needs to be
of worth!Time is so precious and
fleeting, people so intricately fascinating and things so inconsequential and
frail, I desire do the best we can with what we have and be good stewards of
the resources we are given.I’m l earning
everything ought to have a purpose, whether to be useful, practical, bring
beauty and life, or to teach us about God.

Okay, so as those few faithful followers have already realized, I’ve
been gone from this particular blog for a while. After this long blogging
sabbatical, the timing is right for me to return to the blogging world.Though I considered creating an entirely new
blog with slightly new direction, I decided not to reinvent the wheel and
majorly update this one instead.Through
the new name I hope to bring focus to my ramblings which will include the joy
of bringing the outdoors into our growing lives through adventure, exploration,
creation, and reflection.

My
goal is to create a post at least weekly, though I’ll strive for twice.I’m still trying to figure out our rhythm in
this new place, so that is subject to change.I desire a couple things for this blog.First is to spark your creativity.Being a person who rarely follows patterns, instructions or recipes to
the letter, I still thrive on the creativity and ideas of others.Though I’ll never do something the exact same
way, the ideas of others are often the launching point of my own branch of
creativity. How can you make these ideas
fit your life right now?I also look
forward to this becoming a glossary of ideas I may (or may never!) repeat with
my children again down the road; a log of adventures.And the potential to contribute to our family
financially is an eventual possibility.As
life settles, this blog will be linked with my Etsy page.

As for a brief history: I was born and raised in
Sedro-Woolley, WA.It was a small
logging town at the time with plenty of wilderness for exploring and
adventures.I loved my childhood and
hope my children can say the same when they’re grown.Josh and I were married after our junior year
of college, then we moved a LOT!(He has
a bit of a gypsy soul like that)We’ve
managed to stay in Fairbanks for six years where we’ve welcomed our wee
hooligans.We just finished our move to
the outskirts of Springfield, OR where we are attempting to get settled and get
comfortable with the area.

Now you know=)Though I’m sure we’ll get to know each other
more through future posts, I always love getting questions and hearing the
creative ways you find to live life to the fullest!

I'm
so grateful to our Father in heaven that He created us in His image;
specifically that he gave us a desire to create and imagine and explore His
beautiful world! What wonders and discoveries lie around the bend?
I can't wait to share ours with you and learn from your experiences as
well!What adventures have you had this
week, (be they big or small)?

About Me

Hi! I am a born-and-raised NW Washintonian, schooled in Oregon, became a nurse and then a mother in Alaska, and have just relocated back to Oregon where we hope to settle and raise our children (and some critters and gardens as well!) I've seen God work through me through his amazing wild world and feel honored to exist in the Creator's beautiful, natural creation. I want to allow my kids to experience this as well and learn from all natures complexities and simplicity. Adventures from the wilds of Alaska to great storybooks await! All photos are mine and copyrighted unless otherwise specified. Hope you enjoy!